A COMMUNAL COMMITMENT TO TOLERANCE OF ALL FAITHS AND ALL PEOPLE
January 4, 2008
Statement by the Chappaqua Interfaith Council
December 16, 2007
We, the members of the Chappaqua Interfaith Council—a gathering of clergy and lay leaders from our town’s faith groups who are devoted to building bridges of mutual understanding and partnership between our communities—express our sadness at recent events in our area.
Between Halloween and Thanksgiving, we witnessed several disturbing hate-filled acts in Northern Westchester County, north of New York City. At the end of October, a number of residents in our township of New Castle and residents elsewhere in the county found neo-Nazi propaganda on their property. The New Castle Police and the Anti-Defamation League, among other agencies, were notified and are investigating. Those incidents appear to be limited to the distribution of material.
Another disturbing situation: Just prior to Thanksgiving, an African-American family found a cross burning outside their home in Cortlandt, New York. Though the alleged perpetrator seems to have acted independently of any larger organization, the event evoked the notorious tactics of the Ku Klux Klan, which are terrifying and alarming in any context.
These incidents remind us that bigotry in all its forms still exists, and that bigots are equal opportunity haters: the neo-Nazi material consisted of compact discs with songs denigrating Jews, African-Americans, gays and women. The burning cross reminds us how the Ku Klux Klan has targeted for intimidation African-Americans, Catholics, Jews, gays, immigrants and other minorities.
There is one answer to bigotry. That is a communal commitment to stamping it out, a communal commitment to tolerance.
Congregations represented on the Chappaqua Interfaith Council: Baha’is of New Castle; Chappaqua Friends Meeting; The Church of St. Mary the Virgin, Episcopal; First Congregational Church; Lutheran Church of our Redeemer; Presbyterian Church of Mt. Kisco; St. John and St. Mary’s Catholic Church; Temple Beth El of Northern Westchester; and The Upper Westchester Muslim Society
For further information, contact Rabbi Josh Davidson of Temple Beth El of Northern Westchester, Chairman of the Chappaqua Interfaith Council, , 914-238-3928
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